Peeking Can Be Hazardous to Your Sanity
by StarDuchess
Summary: When James Potter looks into the future, he gains an eyeful he clearly wasn't expecting. James/Lily, Remus/Sirius, future Snape/Harry. One-shot.


**A/N:** Hi, everyone! I have a one-shot story for you originally written for Snarry-a-Thon 2013. It's Snarry but from the viewpoint of the Marauders so it's got an outside perspective. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Hey, mates, I found something interesting." James Potter skipped into the dormitory room with a big grin on his face and mirth in his eyes. Sirius and Remus were roughhousing on Sirius' bed (again) and Peter was egging them on (as usual), but all three turned their attention at their friend's greeting.

"What are you on about, James?" asked Sirius, trying to be serious but completely bollixing that up with Remus' sock stuck to his hair.

James shook his head at them, but answered the question anyway. "I was doing some research for my Charms project and got permission from Professor Flitwick to look through a few books in the Restricted Section on my topic. There was this cool spell I came across. It's supposed to infuse an object to tell your future!"

Sirius' eyes lit up. "Sweet, Prongs! Planning to look up your life with Lily? Maybe see some action, you sly dog? Or stag, in your case. I hope you copied it down."

Peter looked eager and even Remus was curious.

"Of course I did. Had to hide it amongst my notes, but I've got it. We'll have some freedom tomorrow night to try it out."

"What should we charm?" asked Peter.

Thinking through the problem, Remus said, "Traditionally, you'd use a mirror or a crystal ball or some other scrying glass. Nothing that was already transfigured, though, as the charm could wear off when it was transfigured back."

"But we might not _want_ to keep it permanent," said Sirius. "You know, discard the evidence and all that."

James shrugged. "There's nothing illegal about it from what I can tell. The book I was reading through contained all manner of stuff, some of it borderline dark, but this one was fairly tame."

Remus was looking off into the corner, deep in thought, running an index finger along his jawline. "In itself it might not be illegal, but we should be cautious with what we see in it."

"Oh, come on," said Peter in his most whiny voice.

"Something innocent like watching James and Lily kiss wouldn't matter, but something like, say, James having a confidential meeting with his boss and him having that information _now_ could be damaging to the future."

"I could Obliviate him," offered Sirius, winking at James and being ever so helpful. Peter snickered at the joke, while Remus gave him an exasperated expression, accustomed to Sirius' pranks.

"No, thanks," said James. "Anyway, wouldn't it be fun?"

"Sure!" the others chorused.

* * *

They met back in their room the following evening after dinner, ready with the spell and a large oval mirror they confiscated from a junk room off the Transfiguration corridor. The dust was so thick on it that the teachers must have thrown it in there ages ago. They cleaned and polished it, then propped it up against James' bed, setting it on its side for a better view of the visions' surroundings. The four sat in a semi-circle around it.

"_Mandare Ocular Hypertempus_." A white-blue light shot out of James' wand and covered the mirror. It shimmered and waved for a minute before soaking in. The surface swirled a milky white for a few minutes longer, then it coalesced into a very familiar room.

Peter decided to state the obvious. "It's the headmaster's office."

"Ooh, Prongs, maybe you're the new headmaster after Albus finally retires." Sirius clapped his hand on his friend's back, grinning. "Good job, mate."

"Ugh, no. I'm not teacher material."

"Well, maybe you're just in trouble again, then."

"Hush up," said Peter. "Let's see what happens."

The others nodded and peered into the mirror. Fawkes was preening himself on his perch and most of the portraits looked asleep, including the unmistakable (yet older) Albus Dumbledore in the large frame behind the desk. The desk was neat and orderly, although clearly used, judging from the levels of ink in the wells and the stacks of marked papers lined up on one edge. As they watched, a figure in black robes moved into their view and over to the desk, turned with precision and a billow of cloth, and sat down.

The Marauders gasped with stunned faces.

"Snivellus?" they all stated in unison. They continued to sit and watch in morbid shock for a few minutes while Snivellus began to work in silence upon the middle stack of parchments.

"What is he doing in the headmaster's chair?" asked Peter, confused.

"What is he marking, I wonder?" asked Remus, just curious.

"Why is he so old and ugly? Well, _uglier_," asked Sirius, both amused and disgusted.

"What does this have to do with me?" screeched James, clearly addled. He shook his head. "I must have cast the charm wrong. _Finite Incantatum_." The image abruptly halted and the mirror returned to its non-charmed state, their own faces reflected back at them. "I'll check the book tomorrow, maybe claiming I missed a vital piece of information for my essay. Which has got to be true enough. Something went wrong, mates. Sorry."

"No hard feelings, Prongs. You'll get it right next time." Sirius patted James on the back before getting up and lending a hand to Remus. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's a Hogsmeade day!"

* * *

James read over the charm again in _The Complet Compendium of Cunning Curiositys_ and practised the wand movements as described. He came up with three interpretations and memorised them all. According to the book, all should go well.

They met Saturday night after curfew and James performed the spell again. White mist churned in the mirror and cleared onto the same scene as before. This time Snivellus was already sitting at his desk, books and papers scattered all about, his dark eyes focused.

"Not again," moaned James.

Before he could cancel the spell, a tall witch they all knew well walked into the picture followed by two agitated students. Snivellus looked up, sneered at the kids, put down his quill, and stood to his full height. He turned his gaze to McGonagall and said, "What unutterably stupid things have they done this time, Deputy Headmistress?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Severus. I know you're working on the school's budget for the Governor's meeting tomorrow," she began in preamble.

"School budget?" said Peter.

"Governor's meeting?" asked Sirius.

But Snivellus cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Get on with it."

"Yes, well. Mr. Donovan and Mr. Sanisbury managed to charm the teacups in my classroom to fill with boiling liquid at any other student's use of magic, much of which spilled out and caused first degree burns on the hands of over eighty percent of their classmates. Madam Pomfrey has already seen to the damages." She stopped and waited for his response.

Snivellus turned his cold eyes on the two students, who immediately began to quell in fright.

"Please, sir, that was an accident! It wasn't supposed to boil over. Just, you know, be tea!"

Snivellus responded with the deepest tone of voice the Marauders had ever heard. "Obvious as it has been that you two have no inclination to follow school rules concerning not tampering with classroom materials, you have now brought to my attention the fact that logical consequences have no seat in your imbecilic brains. We, your teachers, must remedy this fault immediately."

They could see the students trembling outright now, one holding up his hands in a pleading "stop, we don't mean any harm" gesture.

But Snivellus continued on. "As such, I am assigning detention with Mr. Filch. The castle's shingles need replacing. You will help with the restoration, and Merlin help you should you fall off the roof, as there will be no one else there to catch you. Perhaps then you will learn that one small error in judgement can be lethal."

The Marauders all scoffed at this. "How dare he!" yelled Sirius. "He can't put students in danger like that! And how come he's being treated like headmaster anyway?"

Remus looked puzzled. "I don't know, but that's certainly him and McGonagall. Are you sure about those wand movements, James?"

"I was. There's another variation I could try, though. I just don't understand what this has to do with my future, which is what the spell should show."

"That's why we think it's wrong, James. Try it again," said Peter.

"Okay." James took out his wand only to stop when another figure bounced into view. It was a young man, who sidestepped McGonagall and the two terrified students heading back out of the office. He gave her a quick nod before continuing on to the desk. When the others were out of sight, he turned to Snivellus so his face was in profile. Everyone gasped and stared at the man.

He looked almost like James! What was going on?

"Dealing with the troublemakers again?" he asked of their sworn enemy.

"Those two are worse than the Weasley twins! And I have no time for it," Snivellus spat in disgust. With a sigh he sat back down on his chair.

The young man glanced over the parchments on the desk. "Is the budget that bad this year?"

Snivellus snorted. "Pomona wants three new greenhouses. Astronomy has two broken telescopes. The boats and carriages require spell upgrades. Hagrid wants a new plot set aside for more magical beasts - Merlin preserve us - and the Quidditch pitch needs an overhaul. The north stands will not last through another Bludger attack as happened last Saturday."

"But those are all common things for a school to need, right?"

"You haven't sat in session with these fools on the Governing Board. They wish to condemn every knut I spend, and sniff their noses in derision at the galleons I request." Snivellus sneered at the parchments in front of him.

The James-look-alike gave him a sympathetic glance, then walked up behind the chair. He placed his hands on Snivellus' shoulders and began massaging them.

"Ewww!" cried Sirius.

The Marauders watched in shocked fascination as Snivellus closed his eyes and melted into the relaxing treatment. They had never seen him without tension in his body and with such an open expression on his face. It was uncanny.

And even stranger was the happiness radiating off the other man, who did not appear at all disgusted touching the greasy git. In fact, much to their horror, he moved his hands in increasing circles down the chest and arms, bending forward so he could begin kissing Snape's ear.

"Ugh, that's revolting!" said Sirius, grimacing at the image.

Remus lifted one eyebrow. "Do you think they can hear us?" It was a moot question, as they could quite clearly see that the room's occupants had not responded to any of their outbursts.

"I wish," huffed Sirius. "Then we could get them to stop."

"Who do you think that is, Prongs?" asked Peter.

James shook his head. "I don't think I want to know."

Remus looked closer. "It really looks like you, James, but he's got green eyes. At least, from here they look green."

The others peered at the vision and all agreed with that assessment. "Well, looks like you do shack up with Lily then, mate," Sirius said matter-a-factly.

James' face screwed up. "But what is he doing with Snivellus? A son of mine? This makes no sense."

"Which is why the spell must be wrong," said Peter. "Maybe's it's showing your _feared_ future. Let's try it one more time."

Remus nodded his face, his expression clear and calm. "I think Peter may be right. A slight change in the incantation or wand movement could alter the intention of the spell."

"Okay. _Finite Incantatum_." The image disappeared again. "One more time for tonight." He cast the spell again, using another variation of the flick of his wrist. The same blue light came out and engulfed the mirror, and the same milky white swirled inside and formed the headmaster's office again. "Dammit."

The light was gone this time; the desk was cleared of clutter. Snivellus sat holding a cup of steaming tea, while Filius Flitwick stood on a small stool next to the desk, leaning on its surface, also holding a cup of tea. They were holding a conversation, mirth and amusement etched on their faces.

Flitwick was in the middle of a tale. "And then Hagrid gives a bellowing whoop, shattering glasses at two nearby tables, which frightened the creature and it tried to run off stage. Hagrid goes to scoop it up before it bolts out the room and that pulls his chair sideways, which hitches the chair next to him, which pulls at the table and everything starts to go. Food and drinks flew everywhere. Multiple wizards on one side cast blocking spells, which sent the contents the opposite direction, just as wizards on the other side cast cleaning spells that missed, instead polishing the other patrons as well as the up-ended furniture. The whole thing was a mess." He took a sip of his tea.

Snivellus chuckled in amusement. "Clearly, the Fates never granted grace upon our dear groundskeeper. Lucky for us that he enjoys his magical creatures enough to wish to live with them rather than inside the castle."

Flitwick smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey! How dare he say bad things about Hagrid. That bastard," said Sirius.

But James shushed him as a familiar figure bounced past them again.

"Hello, Severus. Hello, Filius." He went to stand on the other side of the desk next to Snivellus.

"Hello to you, Harry. How's the orphanage going?" asked Flitwick.

"Really good. We got two new staff members in, and it's made things much easier. There's no longer pee everywhere 'cause of a lack of hands." His green eyes (they _were _green) sparkled with mirth.

Flitwick chuckled in understanding.

Snivellus snorted and rolled his eyes. "If they find a useful spell to keep the snot and drool to a minimum, I'll consent to come visit."

Harry chuckled a little to himself. "Oh, we're not that far along, Severus. Besides, we wouldn't want to scare the kids just yet." He winked at the greasy git, who didn't respond back with a hex or a curse or anything!

Flitwick laughed. "You may be right, Harry. Better wait another few months before letting Severus near the place. Well, I've got a House to pack up for the night. Evening, gentlemen." He saluted with his cup before setting it down on the tray.

"Goodnight, Filius," said Snivellus in a cordial tone none of the Marauders had ever heard before.

Harry waved goodbye as well.

What really was going on? Was this really the future? What had happened in the meantime? More important, what was this trying to tell them?

Harry waited until Flitwick had gone, then turned to face Snivellus. "I take it you're done for the night?"

Snivellus nodded, his dark eyes now resting on Harry with - what? What was that strange look? "As long as a major catastrophe does not befall us, yes, I am finished for the evening. Do you have a proposal?"

Suddenly Harry's eyes filled with a - no, it couldn't be! - a lusty gleam. "I bring a motion to shag me rotten on this desk."

"WHAT!" shouted Sirius.

James' mouth fell open and he watched on with befuddlement, not believing his eyes or ears.

Peter and Remus glanced at each other and just shrugged, not knowing what to make of any of it.

Snivellus' eyes became intense and focused, matching the gleam of lust in Harry's. "State your claim and presenting evidence, Potter."

"Aha, it is your son!" teased Peter.

"Nooooo," James groaned.

Sirius just reached for Remus' hand, the look on his face saying he hoped none of this was true.

"I prefer to show and not tell," Harry said, boldly taking a step forward and climbing onto Snivellus' lap. With firm determination, he ran his hands into Snivellus' hair, held his head, and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

"Really, that's got to be quite greasy," stated Remus. "The hair, I mean."

"No, no, no," chanted James in disbelief. He was shaking his head and shivering.

Sirius was yelling, "Stop it! Get off him!" and Peter was giggling.

In a fluid motion, Snivellus stood without breaking the kiss, wrapped his arms around Harry, and pressed him into the desk. They could hear Harry moan as the two deepened the kiss, Harry's arms moving to encircle Snivellus' head in a closer embrace. Bending them over the desk, Snivellus caressed Harry's back as his kisses trailed across cheek and down neck to the sensitive pressure point. Harry moaned in appreciation, beginning to rut against the leg in between his.

"Oh, Merlin, Sev, yes." The deep throaty groan that followed was filled with passion and submission.

"NO!" shouted Sirius. He almost leapt up to go charging into the vision, but Remus held him down.

Snivellus chuckled in a low deep register. "This is a most persuasive argument."

"Huh?" Harry said, a little dazed. "Oh, right. So what do you say?"

Snivellus looked down at him for a moment. "Although the idea has merit, I prefer not to get unnecessary excretions all over the antique furniture. Your proposal is rejected, yet I have a counter proposal for you to consider."

"And that is?" Harry's eyes were wide with yearning and hope, which disgusted and confused the four voyeurs.

"I move we go to bed."

"Yeah, seconded," Harry said, nodding his head in complete agreement. "Now."

Snivellus chuckled again. "Cheeky, incorrigible brat. I wonder what your father would say if he knew."

Harry smiled. "Doesn't matter; Da's not here. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Both their eyes filled with mischief at the joke. They then righted themselves and headed off stage, presumably to where the bedroom suite was.

James groaned loudly and buried his head in his hands. He couldn't believe that was his son and that his son appeared to be dating their archenemy.

Sirius, on the other hand, was livid. "This is preposterous! He can't do that to Prongs' son! It's forbidden!"

"I'm not so sure that it is," Remus said with a mix of confusion and understanding in his face. "It looked like Professor Flitwick knew what was going on between the two of them and was okay with it. And so did McGonagall from the last time. And Harry looks old enough to be out of school already …"

"Oh, don't justify the situation, Moony. It's horrid!" Sirius turned on his boyfriend. "Don't tell me you would want our son snogging that bastard. Certainly not be fucked by him!"

"No, I wouldn't want that, but -"

"No buts about it. We'll have to stop this from happening. Come on. We should all work on a plan. Prongs, get your head together."

But James was clearly at a loss for words or ideas. He was still in shock.

Peter was no help either, rocking back and forth in giggles, sing-songing, "Potter's son and Snivellus sitting in a tree / K-I-S-S-I-N-G …"

Remus canceled the charm on the mirror, noting that the fun was over for the night, and persuaded everyone to get to bed and forget about what they had just seen. Unfortunately, sleep was a long time coming for any of them, and all their dreams were plagued with disturbing scenarios involving greasy black hair.

* * *

They thought up plans (and had to discard most of them) all through the next week, things ranging from a simple note delivered twenty years from now saying, "I know what you are doing with Snivellus. Stop it right now. Your Father," to outright killing Snivellus the moment after they'd all graduated. Peter even had the ridiculous theory that if they bombed the headmaster's office now, it wouldn't be there in the future for that scenario to happen. Sirius knuckled his head for that one.

The one idea put forth that James really couldn't stomach was leaving off Lily. He'd wanted her, pursued her, for too long to give up now, and he rather liked the look of a son with her, just not the look of said son fawning over Snivellus.

His upset mood caught her attention, when nothing else had. "Given up on me? No wonder you're so glum."

He mock-laughed. "If I did give up on you, it would make all this easier."

Confusion marred her pretty face. "Make what easier?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. He didn't think he could talk to her about this, a little embarrassed that he had been prying into their future, but more so he didn't want to upset her that her son might be sleeping with her former friend.

"Obviously, it's something if it's causing you to avoid me," she said with mild teasing and a sly smile. "Not tired of the chase already, are you?"

James thought it was bitter irony that she should be coming around to him just as he was thinking about abandoning her. He mock-chuckled again. "Not hardly, just some new information has come to light that … uh, is odd, is all." He hoped she would leave it at that.

But no. "Would this have anything to do with the odd discussions you four are having of late? Peter mentioned a mirror not working properly and Sirius keeps staring at Severus Snape - not that that's anything new, but now there's more disgust involved - and he keeps glancing at me. What have I got to do with it?"

"Well, hm," James said, trying to stall for time, nervously running one hand through his messy hair. "That's the part I don't really want to talk about with you, Lily dear."

"I am not your 'Lily dear'! Quit taking liberties. And that's exactly why I want to hear 'this part.' You've always been willing to spout off anything to me, whether I wanted to hear it or not, and now you don't? Something's definitely off. Does this have anything to do with Remus saying, 'can't believe their son would do that'? Whose son?"

James groaned. "It … has a lot to do with a lot."

"Oh, that's clear as mud," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Stop evading the question, and just tell me!"

His eyes searched around for a quick fix, but nothing came to light. With a heavy sigh, he said, "We were looking into the future, and you and I have a son …"

She gasped, but not in shock so much as in delight.

"... but there's something odd going on that doesn't make sense."

Lily thought over what she'd seen and heard the last few days and finally came up with a clue. "And that something odd involves Severus?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, something like that."

"Show me."

* * *

The next Friday rolled around and the Gryffindors found themselves commandeering an empty classroom just after dinner, since Lily was joining them and she shouldn't come up to the boys' dormitory and the common room was too open a space. They set the mirror up against a desk and sat in front of it as before. James cast the spell once again and all went according to plan.

Lily looked a bit surprised to see the headmaster's office. "That's Dumbledore's portrait! I wonder what happens …" but she didn't get to speculate as a dark-robed figure stalked into view followed by a boy child of about eight to ten years old who's looking dejectedly down. "Is that our son?"

Sirius and James both shook their heads, while, puzzled, Remus said, "No, I don't think so, but he's vaguely familiar."

As they watched, the looming figure flicked his wand and a loud bang came from the door being closed behind them, though they couldn't see it. Robes billowing, the man spun around to advance on the child. Lily gasped, though this time it was in shock. That was definitely an older Severus Snape.

His menace was palpable, though the child didn't seem scared nor did he back away from him, just kept his head down looking sad during the tongue-lashing.

"Of all the hare-brained schemes engendered within these walls every day of the school year, this is by far worse than anything my student imbeciles have cooked up."

"My student imbeciles?" Lily whispered in concern, just as Sirius yelled, "Hey, give over Snivellus. He's just a kid!"

Snape didn't hear him, of course; he just continued on with his rant. "You could have endangered yourself and others, besides the destruction of property, and it was only by Circe's grace that the unthinkable was not made reality. So now I want a full account of your motivations. What were you possibly thinking, Mr. Lupin?"

"LUPIN?" three Marauders shouted. They and Lily turned to look at Remus, whose eyes were wide and simply said, "Is that _my_ kid?"

The poor child was shaking as he said, "We were only out for a bit of a ride -"

"Not good enough!" shouted Snivellus. "Your recklessness almost caused your death!"

The kid put his hands to his ears. "I'm sorry, Uncle Severus."

"What! There's no way that git can be his uncle!" said Sirius, who thought all of this was already highly unfair.

"I just wanted to try the Wronski Feint. Bruce's mum and dad were watching and -"

"You decided to show off without having the first clue what you were doing," Snivellus sneered, a most menacing sight. "Even most professional Quidditch players can't perform that trick correctly."

"Yes, but Harry can." The boy looked very earnest in his defiance.

"So you took it into your head to indulge in a fantasy, and look where it got you. Pride and Fame are dangerous gambits, Mr. Lupin."

He cast his eyes down again. "I know that now, sir."

Lily made a whimper, just a small noise of sympathy, but the Marauders all heard it.

"Yeah, Lils, we feel that way, too," James said, taking the opportunity to wrap his arm around her shoulder in support of her feelings.

"Hm, poor kid," said Peter, while Remus was holding onto Sirius in bafflement.

"That's just terrible! Who does he think he is?" Sirius was working himself up into a proper rant that would've lasted for hours, but a knock sounded at the door in the vision.

"Severus? Am I interrupting something? Teddy!"

The little boy looked up, his face morphing into a full, radiant smile, his hair suddenly turning blue. "Uncle Harry!"

A figure bounded through the doorway and towards the boy. They ran to each other with arms opened wide, and, embracing, Harry picked the boy up and twirled him about the room. Snivellus crossed his arms and sneered at both of them.

"If you are done with this disgusting display of affection, I was about to pronounce a punishment."

Harry set Teddy down and looked at him in all seriousness.

Lily drew in a breath as she got a good look at this young man. "He looks just like you, James, only … maybe a tad older?"

"Yes, we wondered about that, too," Remus said.

Peter shushed them. "I wanna hear what comes next."

Harry was confronting Teddy. "What did you do, Teddy?"

Teddy scuffled his feet, looking down at the ground. "I just wanted to show a move to Bruce and his family."

Harry put his hands on his arms clearly in a parenting style, which made Lily giggle. "Which move was it and what happened?"

He scuffed his shoes some more, earning a growl from Snivellus, before finally saying, "The Wronski Feint."

Harry cringed. "And you almost fell off your broom, didn't you?" He sighed. "We've told you before those are dangerous moves, and you shouldn't -"

"Yes, but you do them!"

"Because I know _how_ to do them. Severus is right; we'll have to come up with a suitable punishment."

"Damn straight," Snivellus muttered.

The boy gave a dirty look at Snivellus and turned back to Harry. "Uncle Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Da would have been as strict as Uncle Severus?"

"How can you think that!" said an incensed Sirius. "Of course your Da isn't. Remus is totally laid back and cool!"

"But that's my son, Sirius. I might feel differently if it's about him."

Harry crouched down in front of Teddy and placed one hand on his shoulder. "Your Da would not have been as cruel in his choice of words, I'll bet," he said, giving Snivellus a look that spoke volumes as to Harry's disregard for Snivellus' invectives, "but, yes, he would have been as strict as that when it comes to your safety. He loved you and wouldn't have wanted any harm to come to you."

Remus frowned. "Why is he speaking about me in the past tense?"

The kid looked crestfallen. "Okay. I'm sorry, Uncle Harry."

"It's okay. Listen. I've been meaning to have a ride with you. Why don't we go out to the pitch and I'll show you a less complicated move."

The kid's face broke into a huge grin. "Really?"

Harry nodded.

"I'll go tell Bruce and they can come watch us fly!" With huge amounts of youthful energy, he ran out of the office to go tell his friend and his friend's family.

Harry chuckled and shook his head at the boy's exuberance.

"You really shouldn't encourage him," Snivellus said in a more calm tone of voice.

"Hey, don't be so harsh with Teddy. It's hard growing up as an orphan, just wanting some adult in your life to acknowledge you." Harry walked over to where Snivellus was standing, his facial features taking on a distant, melancholy appearance.

Snivellus placed a hand on Harry's back. "I know it was hard for you as well, but that doesn't mean we should indulge his every whim in making up for our own failed childhoods."

Harry came back to himself at that. "I won't, Severus. We'll still punish him later, but for now let him be a kid."

"Thank you, Harry. That's what I was saying." Sirius nodded his head in agreement.

"Sirius," James said, "do you realise what he just said? That he and that kid are both orphans. Orphans, Sirius. Which means we're not alive! What kind of future is this?"

"Something awful must have happened," said Lily, still taking in the entire scene. "Did you see that incredibly sad look he got?"

James nodded. "I don't know what happened, Lils."

The two in the vision were still conversing. "Children still need to have some sense of self-preservation."

"And they do, Severus, just not as rigidly as you want them to." Harry sighed and stopped speaking for a moment, Snivellus letting him, which was a surprise to the Marauders.

"Do you think my own Da would be proud of me?" he asked in a quiet voice, filled with sadness and longing.

"No doubt the esteemed James Potter would be rolling in his grave right now to know that you are in a long-term sexual relationship with me, but other than that, yes, he would be most proud." His tone had gone soft and gentle, like nothing any of them had ever heard, but apparently Harry had as he didn't remark on the change. James looked over at Lily, who was confused and probably shocked.

Harry got that faraway look again and said, "How can you be sure?"

Snivellus' eyes widened just a bit at that. Peter sniggered at him, but Lily rebuked him with a stern glare. Snivellus brought his hand up to cup Harry's cheek. "I know because any parent would be proud of the bravery you've shown in your short life, the accomplishments you've made, the lives you've altered for the better - in short, for the man you have become."

Lily sniffled, and it looked like Harry might start crying as well, but he didn't. He just walked into Snivellus' arms and they held each other close. "I sometimes wish he could have seen the things you've done, too. The good things, I mean."

"It doesn't matter, Harry."

They stayed like that for quite a few minutes, while the Marauders puzzled over everything they'd just heard. Snivellus good? Snivellus acting _civil_?

Finally, Harry muttered, "I love you so very much, you know."

With eyes even wider than before, they all listened as Snivellus said in return, "I know, and I am all the richer for it."

They all sat in stunned silence as Harry lifted his head up and touched their lips together in a gentle kiss, and then both of them initiated a second, and then Snivellus started a third that turned searing, hands roaming, grasping, pulling closer.

Lily sighed in a pleased, romantic daze. Peter said, "Ewwww." Remus looked thoughtful. Sirius said, "Ah, come on! Really? We're expected to believe this crap?" And James just stared. It was all a lot to take in.

All of a sudden Teddy ran back through the door and into their line of vision. "Uncle Harry! Yeah, Bruce and his parents want to see -" He stopped when he caught sight of the two adults kissing. "Ah, not that again! Do you have to do the kissing thing?"

Snivellus and Harry broke apart, the latter blushing slightly. "It's what adults in love do, Teddy. You'll like it, too, one day."

"Well, I hope it's not today, because Bruce is waiting!"

Harry laughed. "All right, all right. I'll fetch my broom, see?" He flicked his wrist and out flew a snazzy looking broom.

"Okay, let's go!" Teddy ran back out of the room, not even waiting.

Harry gave Snivellus a small smile. "Guess I better go. Duty calls."

A lusty gleam came into Snivellus' eye. "And I will gladly await your return."

Harry's green eyes returned the heat, but he said nothing more, instead just turning and walking out of the room.

They watched for a few more minutes but nothing exciting happened. Snivellus merely sat down in his headmaster's chair and drank a glass of scotch. James finally ended the incantation.

"Well, Lily, what do you think?"

"Well, I definitely admit that was a son of yours, James, and the other one possibly yours, too, Remus, but there was no proof that I am his mother."

"Sure you are," Sirius said. "Didn't you notice his green eyes?"

"And the higher cheekbones are yours, Lily," Remus added.

"Okay, okay, you may be right. Besides, I'm having a hard time getting over Severus, but Harry does seem to be happy, so I can't fault him for that."

"What about the way he treated Remus' son, then?" Sirius was upset that it seemed okay for Snivellus to talk that way to a child, especially one of Remus'.

"Oh, he was angry," she said, "and that's not what one should say to a kid, but at least he wasn't physical about it. And the end result doesn't seem any worse than as any other parents' skills. Look, maybe we shouldn't be watching these any more. It seems like a dangerous way to spend an afternoon."

"Ah, Lily flower, you are just jealous," said Sirius.

"No, she's right," said Remus, pulling him into a hug. "I warned us that viewing the future could be paradoxical. It's best time to stop."

The others grumbled a bit but they agreed, mostly. Peter Pettigrew was still staring at the place where the mirror was, his thoughts lost to posterity, but soon they all left the classroom - and the future - behind.

The End.

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**A/N:** Love to you all. Please leave a review!


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